Camp Rock, ft Arianna Starr
by princessoffireskies
Summary: An old friend makes a timely interruption, changing the course of the paths for all at Camp Rock... after all, promises are sacred, especially when made at midnight in a darkened room, with the innocent belief of children. No matter how famous a girl gets
1. Always and Forever

"So let me get this straight, you lie about your mom to look important, but you don't even mention me? Nice to know you love me, Mitch!" a half-sincere, half-laughing, definitely female voice rang out behind the group currently watching the fallout that was Mitchie Torres and Shane Gray. The group turned, intrigued. Shane spun round on his heel, furious with the lies, furious for being interrupted. Mitchie turned slowly, hardly daring to believe that the oh-so-timely interruption was real. After all, _she_ was not supposed to be here.

"Seriously, girl, what's wrong with you? No, wait, don't answer that, I know the answer."

The voice belonged to a petite girl, standing facing the group. Obviously curly black hair was tamed, pulled back into a ponytail on the back of her head, secured by a purple ribbon. Dark jeans hung on her hips, heeled ankle boots added the slightest bit to her little height, a purple camisole trimmed with black lace accentuated the paleness of her skin. Dark sunglasses masked her eyes, which sat on high cheekbones, over deep pink, carefully glossed lips. All except the addressed didn't recognise her.

"Maybe I know how much you value your privacy, especially when it comes to the past?" Mitchie shot back.

"Honey, you are the one thing from my past that doesn't hurt to think about," the newcomer replied wryly, stepping daintily down into the group.

"Even so, I didn't want to drag you into this – last thing you need."

"What is it I say at the end of every call, letter or email? Oh yeah, _ring if you need me – remember our promise._ Hmm, and what was that promise? I remember, 'Friends 'til the end, hand in hand, side by side, never will I let you down, and this I vow.' Plus, hello! I've known you FOREVER! I'll always know when you need me! And, you know, your mom just might have given me the heads up."

"Nice to see you trust me not to mess things up," the other girl muttered.

"Oh, I do. Just you also mentioned an uber-bitch. And knowing the way the devious mind works as I do, I knew something'd clue her in."

"Who even are you?" Tess chose this moment to chip in, loudly and rudely.

"You must be the devious mind!" the raven-haired girl answered cheerily, "Wow, I gotta say, good going. A stunt like this, takes a lot of effort – hell, brings back more than a few memories of being on your end, right Mitch?"

"You haven't answered my question. Who are you?"

"Oh my gosh! I so didn't mean to be rude – wouldn't want to steal your place! I'm Ari, Mitch and I go way back. As in, since we where tiny."

"Who the hell are you to waltz in here?" Shane burst out, clearly frustrated with the unusual turn the night had taken.

"Well, hotshot, I was getting to that. Honestly!" This, of course, caused both Nate and Jason, up until this point stood silently just behind their bandmate, to shake with suppressed laughter. Seeing Shane get told by a diminutive female was way too funny.

"Ari," Mitchie warned, shaking her head.

"Fine…" 'Ari' replied, sighing. She flipped the sunglasses up to sit on top of her head, revealing massive, sparkling grey eyes. Her full lips turned into a grin as she said, "Hi, I'm Arianna Starr." Jaws dropped.

"Yeah, right, sure," Tess put in derisively, "As if. Please, it's just one of Mitchie's little friends trying to fool you!"

Arianna smirked, turning around to face Tess's side of the group:

"You were saying?"

Caitlyn snapped out of her shock, beginning to grin wildly. Finally, Tess Tyler, the unstoppable Queen Bee of Camp Rock, was unable to control the world around her. It felt good to be on the winning side.

"Tess, you're catching flies. Might wanna shut your mouth." Caitlyn smiled sweetly.

"What_ever_, freak. Anyway, don't you have dishes to do, Mitchie?"

"Shane, I – "

"Don't bother," the young music sensation turned away, stomping off towards his cabin, Nate and Jason in tow.

Tears welled up in Mitchie's eyes, before Caitlyn took her arm, muttering, "Not here you don't."

Arianna slotted her arm through Mitchie's other arm, helping to lead her away from the Beach Jam stage. This was going to take a lot of fixing…

"Hey. Hey, look at me." Arianna whispered. She was crouched in front of her old friend, who was sat slumped on the bed. Caitlyn had led them to her own cabin, empty other than her. No one wanted to live with the girl who'd been cast of by Tess Tyler, after all. On arrival, Mitchie had dropped onto the bed, letting the pooled tears fall, and hadn't moved since. Caitlyn sat to one side of the crying girl, rubbing soothing circles on her back. They'd spent ten minutes trying to silently comfort the broken girl already, and Arianna knew it was time to speak.

"Mitch, just look at me, yeah?" Finally the sobbing girl raised her head, looking at her first friend through watery, swollen eyes.

"Ari, I ruined it all. What is there to say?"

"Everything. Anything. You gotta try, sugar."

"How? I can't see a way to fix this…"

"Doesn't mean there isn't one," Caitlyn chipped in, smiling softly.

"See, I'm not the only one who thinks you can do this. Look, you could wait in here for this to blow over – which I'm guessing won't be soon – or you can face it dead on. And really, this is the summer of a lifetime, Mitch, just what you always wanted – don't waste it on some silly little stumble."

"Hey, at least you've got an experienced helper by your side! Last summer, I was the outsider. I'll be right there with you, I promise," Caitlyn told her, causing Mitchie to look down, feeling guilty.

"I'm so sorry. I mean, I went off with Tess and left you, I didn't realise, I'm so, so sorry – "

"Mitchie! Don't worry about it, you didn't know. And I'm over it. All in the past, right?"

"And you've got me. Always and forever, right?"

"Always and forever," Mitchie replied, a half-forgotten memory rushing to her mind as she smiled sadly.

FLASHBACK

Three small children, aged around six or seven at the most, sat in a circle in a darkened room. It was clearly late at night, and the far-off sounds suggested that elsewhere in the house, a party was in full swing. The room was the perfect young girl's bedroom, the white wood furniture, the soft pink pillows covering the large bed, the dollhouse in the corner. The owners of the house were clearly well-off, and the room had been done to supposedly suit their youngest daughter. Flashes of the girl's own preferences were evident if you looked closely. The clothes visible through the wardrobe's slightly open door tended towards brighter, more vibrant hues than the pastel pink of her room. A few silver or purple cushions were mixed in with the masses of pink. In one corner, a child-sized guitar leaned, untidy piles of music books spilled out of the shoebox behind it.

Sat cross-legged, leaning forward in earnest, was the room's occupant, the little Arianna Louisa Richards, youngest of the three Richards girls. Black curls fell over her slim shoulders, grey eyes sparked with passion. The tiny girl was nevertheless the older of the two girls present, while the single boy was the eldest over all. Ari to her friends, she was the unquestioned leader of the group, a position gained by her active imagination and eager energy.

Next to her, knees pulled up to her chest, rocking slightly as she sat, was six year old Michaela Theresa Torres, the youngest child, even though most tended to believe she was older than the smaller Ari. Chestnut bangs fell into warm brown eyes, poker straight hair sliding over her back and shoulders. A wide smile crossed her face as she listened to Arianna speak, excitement flooding her eyes. Michaela – called Mitchie due to her friends' inability to pronounce her full name when they were even younger – was from the poorer part of town, her parents not reaching the financial heights of the others. As her mother had been friends with the other mothers as girls, the three children had formed a strong bond as toddlers, even though some of the girls in school called Mitchie names, she always had her friends.

Finally, leaning against the foot of the bed, blonde hair as messy as ever, despite his mother's attempts to make him 'presentable', bright blue eyes lazily watching over his girls as they spoke, was the only boy of the group. Tall for his age, James William Haywood, called Jamie or Jay by the girls, was the protector of the group, taking keeping the girls safe as his duty as the sole male. He listened carefully to the talk, despite his relaxed appearance, listening to the soft, sweet voice of Mitchie, his princess, his sunshine, answer Ari's musical lilting one, his angel, his dreamer. These girls were the most important things in Jay's seven year old world, and he would do anything within his power for his best friends.

"So do you swear?" Arianna whispered eagerly, holding out her small hand.

"Yeah," James grinned, placing his on top of hers.

"Okay," Mitchie agreed, smiling up at her friends as her hand completed the pile.

The fingers threaded together, so the three children's were so mixed together they could not break free, or tell which fingers were their own.

"Friends 'til the end…" Ari began.

"Friends 'til the end…" the other two echoed, beginning the pact.

"…hand in hand…"

"…hand in hand…"

"…side by side…"

"…side by side…"

"…never will I let you down…"

"…never will I let you down…"

"…and this I vow."

"…and this I vow."

The familiar voices of their parents called out to them now – the party was over, it was time to separate. As Mitchie and James opened the door to leave, Arianna called after them, using the words they substituted for 'goodbye', never wishing to say the word that seemed so final in their eyes.

"Always and forever, guys!"

"Always and forever," came the joint reply.

PRESENT

"So, we do this thing, yeah?" Arianna asked, that same fearless energy sparking in her eyes, even after all those years.

"We do this thing," Mitchie answered, grinning with the old recklessness her friend used to inspire in her.

Caitlyn nodded, confidence causing a third grin to light the cabin, echoing, "We do this thing."

The three girls started to plan, working out how to handle the situation, when a tentative knock interrupted their discussion.

"Hello?" a male voice called out, unsure. Mitchie's heart leapt, then fell with the realisation that the voice was not Shane's.

"Dude, what if they're not in there?" another boy's voice chipped in.

"The girl said they went this way, Jase." The eye roll was almost audible.

"Well, what if they did, but then they didn't?"

"But – "

The conversation was cut short when Caitlyn opened the door, revealing the bickering Nate and Jason Gray.

"Can I help you?" she asked, carefully schooling her features into polite indifference, when on the inside she was screaming. After all, she'd been composed on meeting female musical starlet Arianna Starr, so she could cope with this. She could, even if she'd had the biggest crush on guitarist Jason since her first summer at Camp Rock, before the boys became famous. She'd known Nate pre-Connect 3, so she could deal with speaking to her old friend. She'd just have to not look directly at Jason.

"Hey, Caitlyn," Nate smiled, remembering her from his last two summers at the music camp, "Yeah, we're looking for Arianna Starr? Is she in there? We've gotta take her to Uncle Brown."

"Oh, sure," Caitlyn replied, before turning back to look at the two girls, "erm, Arianna?"

"Mmm?"

"You've got to go see Brown," at the raised eyebrow, she added, "the Camp Director."

"Okay. I'll be back, Mitch. Complete with chocolate and ice cream."

At her friend's look, she winked, saying, "A girl comes prepared for these things."

With a final smile, she left the cabin.


	2. Babbling Stutter Blush

**AN: I just realised I didn't put this on the first chapter. OOPS! Okay, here goes... this is gonna hurt... idonotowncamprockdisneydoes. okay, okay, I do not own Camp Rock, Disney does. I do however own Arianna, as well as a number of other OCs who will appear. All songs used will either be credited as to the artist they belong to, or a note will be left telling you they are mine. Kay?**

**Love you all, Willow. (PS - much as i love the story alerts, i would also ask for reviews! I know, it's cheeky and whatever, but they really help me to see where all of YOU think the story should go. I've been known to edit my ideas based on reviewers thoughts.)**

Three sets of footsteps approached the director's cabin, where two sat, one relaxed, the other tense and annoyed. These two were the creator and director of Camp Rock, known as Brown, and teen music sensation and heart-throb Shane Gray. Brown was reclining in his chair, listening calmly to the nearing footsteps, while his middle nephew slumped in his chair, eyes hard and face set in fury.

Laughter accompanied the footsteps, the familiar laughs of his eldest and youngest nephews, the remaining two-thirds of Connect 3, mixed with a musical, feminine giggle Brown didn't recognise, but assumed must belong to the girl they were escorting, fellow chart-topper Arianna Starr. Brown smiled, his mind working. He'd been hoping to convince the boys to stay, and he wondered if this girl – if she was to stay – would be just the incentive he'd been looking for. After all, it could only do his boys good to spend time with another in their situation, someone else who'd skyrocketed to fame in the last year or so. Perhaps this unforeseen twist would work to his advantage, and theirs.

Nate pushed the door to the cabin open with one arm, allowing the raven-haired girl to step through first, calling out as he did so:

"We've got her, Uncle Brown!"

"Excellent, guys," he answered, grinning, "Welcome to Camp Rock, Miss Starr. I would have welcomed you earlier, but…"

"I kinda just barged in unannounced? Sorry, it's such a bad habit of mine, I just get caught up in what I gotta do, and forget to do things the right way, I'm just way too impulsive, people are always telling me that I gotta think things through more, and – I'm babbling like a idiot, aren't I?" Arianna rushed out, before scowling at herself in the last. Jason's eyes glazed over, trying to figure out how someone could say that much without needing to breath. Shane just rolled his eyes impatiently, before raising an eyebrow when he caught sight of his younger brother's face: Nate Gray was smiling slightly to himself, glancing over at the girl shyly. Shane smirked slightly to himself – even if he was jumping to conclusions, it'd still be fun to mock Nate later.

"Relax, love," Brown replied, amused, "no worries. Will you be staying with us?"

Shane's smirk only deepened, as he noticed Nate, now seated, lift his head slightly in interest. It would have been totally unnoticeable, Shane had to give the youngest Gray that, had Shane not been watching his reactions.

"Oh, that'd be so good! I mean, if that's okay, I wouldn't want to be a nuisance or anything."

"Not at all, I think we'll be able to find cabin room for you, if you don't mind sharing with a camper, that is?"

"No, I'd love it! I never got to do the camp thing."

"Brilliant. Now, boys, have you two decided whether to stay or not?"

"Well, I don't think we have anything else on, for once…" Nate stalled, mentally running through the weeks ahead in his mind, "No, while Shane's away we're just relaxing. We can stay, I mean, if you want to Jason?"

"'Kay," came the reply from the eldest Gray, now staring off into the treetops.

"Then you two can room with Shane, and we're sorted. You two will keep our guest occupied during class times, I hope?"

"S-sure, Uncle Brown," Nate agreed, his elder brother nodding. Oh yeah, Shane mused, even if he was wrong – which he doubted – this was going to be funny.

The bell for dinner rang, and the group of five headed to the mess hall.

"Hey, sugar," Arianna cried, slipping into the seat next to her old friend.

"Hey," Mitchie echoed softly, not daring to look up as the three boys passed on, following Brown.

"Oh, I don't think we've been properly introduced!" Arianna said, smiling over at Caitlyn, "I'm Arianna, but you can call me Ari – it'll save time and confusion, as Mitch never calls me anything else. Plus, I can tell you're cool."

"You can?" Caitlyn replied, lifting her eyebrows, before adding, "I'm Caitlyn Gellar. Camper today, top-selling music producer tomorrow."

"Really? That's so cool – I knew it! I'd love to understand how all that works."

"Are you going to be staying here, then? Or did Brown say you have to go?"

"Actually, so long as I can find a bed in a cabin, I can stay. Which is so cool – I've never been to summer camp before, much less one like this!"

"Really? Wow, that seems so weird – I've been coming here for years. Anyway, my cabin's empty other than me, so you could room with me. You both could."

"Seriously? Thank you! What do you reckon, Mitchie? Make it one long sleepover?"

"Sure. I'll have to get up early though – to help mom," Mitchie replied. Perhaps this summer was salvageable after all.

"I've got kitchen duty too, remember? The food fight?"

"And I'll help anyway – been way too long since I got to cook with you!"

The girls ate their meals, slowly strengthening old friendships and starting new ones.

"That's the last of it," Mitchie sighed, flopping backwards onto her bed for the remains of the summer. Two more thumps could be heard in the cabin, as both Caitlyn and Arianna dropped onto their beds. The three girls had spent the last hour and a half ferrying Mitchie's things from Tess's cabin and Ari's bags from her car to the cabin. They were all exhausted – both physically and mentally from the day's events – but smiling. Caitlyn's third of the cabin was the only part not littered with bags, but for now the girls were content just to lie amongst all of it, rather than start the task of unpacking.

"Man, that took ages."

At Arianna's comment, all three began to laugh, almost believing that the craziness of the day had finally got to them. When they had eventually stopped laughing, Mitchie hauled herself off her bed and threw a pillow over to hit Arianna squarely in the face.

"Hey!" the girl squealed, "UNNECESSARY!"

"Come on, we gotta unpack!"

"Fine," the girl muttered, swinging herself up, and pulling a suitcase onto her bed to unpack.

IN ANOTHER CABIN

Shane Gray lay on his bed as his two brothers finished unpacking. Wanting to keep their options open, the two had brought their things down, just in case they chose to stay. Now they were glad of their – well, Nate's really, - foresight.

Smirking slightly, Shane said the words he'd been wanting to since before dinner:

"So, little brother, what got you so worked up earlier?"

"You were the one who had a hissy fit," Nate shot back.

"Now, now, no avoiding the subject. Back in Uncle Brown's cabin – 'S-sure,'. Been a while since you stuttered, Nate. Wonder what caused it…… not Brown, surely… couldn't be me or Jason… not our _guest_," Shane replied, dripping sarcasm on that last word, "the _lovely_ Miss Arianna Starr? Unless…. Has our little Nate got a crush?"

"No, I just – "

"He does," Jason chipped in, not realising Shane was just guessing, "he was freaking out all the way to get her, and trying to act cool all the way back."

"DUDE! I wasn't!" Nate yelled defensively, unaware that the slight blush colouring his face was all Shane needed to hoot with laughter, his suspicions confirmed.

"Well, then, I guess you'll be okay if I ask you to take my class tomorrow, so I can show her round instead," Shane replied once he'd gotten his breath back, grinning as he wound his younger brother up – he had no intention of doing it, but it was hilarious to watch Nate get more and more defensive – especially when Shane hadn't expected to be right.

"N-no, I don't think Uncle Brown'd like it…"

"I just thought you didn't like her, so you wouldn't mind if I did…"

"I-I didn't say that, I s-said that…"

"So you do like her?" both older brothers cut him off, grinning.

"Shut up." Nate mumbled, dropping face down onto his bed.

BACK WITH THE GIRLS…

"So, anyway, any cute guys here?" Arianna asked with a grin. They'd already gone over Mitchie's story of how everything went wrong, and Caitlyn's from last year, along with the – edited – version of Ari's history. After all, some secrets couldn't be shared that easily. The three girls were sat in their pyjamas on Caitlyn's bed, eating out of a large tub of ice cream. Chocolate wrappers indicated the rest of Arianna's promise of goodies had been fulfilled.

"Depends on what you count as cute," Caitlyn answered, "and whether we're counting just campers or everyone."

"Everyone, as we both know who Mitchie likes," Ari replied flippantly. Mitch screwed her mouth up in answer, adding:

"No chance now…"

"That's what you think, my friend – there may still be hope!" Arianna shot back.

"Anyway," Caitlyn cut in, "Campers… well, Barron and Sandler are probably the best – I'll have to introduce you to them, Ari. And well, judging by the reaction of all the screaming girls, I'd put Connect 3 on the list as well."

"Judging from your blush, I'd say you'd put at least one of them on that list, Caity," Mitchie replied, smiling at her new friend.

"Oh my gosh, you ARE blushing!" Arianna cried, "Who is it? Tell us!"

"Jason…" Caitlyn mumbled, her face now scarlet.

"Aww, that's so sweet. He's the eldest, right?"

"Yes, Ari. Jason, then Shane, and then Nate's the youngest. Jason's nineteen, right?"

"Yeah, and Shane's eighteen. Nate's nearly seventeen – birthday next month."

At the looks, Caitlyn continued:

"I knew Nate in his last two years here. Then there was last year's summer from hell."

"Aaaaah." Both girls replied, understanding.

"It was Nate and Jason who came here to get me, right?"

"Mmhmm."

"Why?"

"They're going to be keeping me entertained while everyone's in class. Brown's orders."

"That should be interesting, if nothing more. They always did now this place better than anyone – well, they and Shane did."


	3. Missing You, Helping Me

**A/N: Omigosh, I am so sorry I've been away so long! I've had so much on, which I know is no excuse... Sorry! Anyway, here's a new chapter (been in the works for weeks, but I had a mental block, so I only finished it literally ten minutes ago. Hopefully I'll be updating again soon, things are losing the hectic-ness. I hope you like the update, and get in touch to tell me what you think - as I said last chapter, my plots often get adjusted if people give me suggestions as to how they'd continue. I'm only one person, and you guys always have such brilliant ideas!**

**Love, Willow!**

Early morning sunlight shone through the windows of Cabin Groove, the dawn-light colouring the room with an orange tint. In each of the three beds there was a slumbering form, three girls still away in the land of dreams. A shrill ringing broke the peaceful air, all three girls immediately waking, sitting up in their beds. The chestnut haired girl leaned back against the headboard, breathing deeply. The girl with wavy, light brown hair sat forward, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. The raven haired girl swung her legs out of bed, sighing as she felt the mess of tangled curls her hair always became overnight. The three soon began their own morning rituals, Mitchie gaining the first bathroom slot, quickly emerging fully dressed and hair dripping. Caitlyn next, soon following suit. Arianna spent the time before her bathroom time picking out her own outfit for the day, as well as giving approval on the other girls' choices. Soon all the girls were showered, their hair dry and they all sat in front of the cabin's one large mirror, Caitlyn quickly sorting her own basic make-up, before following Mitchie's lead in allowing Arianna to add a few – subtle – touches. Arianna then dealt with her own make-up, carefully applying colour with the precision only the well practised can truly have. The door swung open, then closed. The three girls were gone.

"… so this Tess chica is a long term bitch?" Arianna asked, as the trio pushed open the doors to the kitchen. The scent of freshly baked goodies hit them, the sounds of the kitchen in full swing surrounded them.

A woman's voice broke the silence, calling out:

"Mitchie, honey? Caitlyn? Is that you?" Connie Torres came around the corner, before stopping dead, hand going to her heart as she recognised the third girl, "Oh my… Arianna? Little Arianna Richards? Look at you!"

"Mommy T!" the girl replied grinning widely. Connie quickly wrapped the young girl up in a hug, saying as she did:

"Sweetie, not that I'm not happy to see you, but why are you here?"

"I got your message, I came right away. I couldn't leave Mitchie to crash and burn."

"Arianna, I didn't mean for you to come racing down here!"

"Yeah, but I did. No harm done – the camp director even said I could stay!"

"Oh, sweetie, that's wonderful! Now, will you be helping us, or did you just come in my kitchen to give me a heart attack?"

"Helping?"

"Right answer."

Laughing, the three girls pulled on the blue cotton jackets that would protect their clothing, and began working, joking and messing around as they cooked.

Breakfast ready, Mitchie paused before the door through to the mess hall. Sure, everyone now knew who she really was, but did she really want to do this? Much as she hated to admit it, part of her was still ashamed that she was the outsider amongst all these seemingly perfect young lives. She knew that stepping through that door would just make things real, but at the same time, there was nothing left to deny now, no reason to pretend. Caitlyn also paused. She knew first hand how cruel these kids could be, especially when they believed they'd been fooled. That was how Tess Tyler operated: let everyone to think they'd been wronged – righteous anger was more powerful than created hate, every time – and then her victim would begin to believe that they were worthless, someone who hurt people just by being there.

Mitchie looked over at Arianna, wishing not for the first time that she had the authority the elder girl had always possessed. That was the way it had always been, Ari and Jay ready for anything, heads high and smiling no matter the situation. She wished she had Ari's unshakeable confidence and fearlessness, that smirk that would colour her innocent features, as if laughing at the threat. She missed Jay's easy, lop-sided smile at that moment, the way he'd just seem not to notice the trouble, the danger. The only exception being the unmentionable past… A sharp pang ran through Mitchie's heart, the thought of the boy, who'd been so strong, and how helpless he'd become.

"I miss Jay," she whispered, eyes shining with the tears the memories threatened to cause.

"Me too, so much," Arianna replied softly, eyes briefly shutting, before the same old smirk lit her face, saying, "But you know what he'd tell you right now? 'Head up, princess, time to face the losers, show 'em what you're made of!'"

"I'm made of lies, Ari, that's what I'll show them," Mitchie muttered sullenly.

"Unless biology is very, _very_ wrong, that's not true," Caitlyn put in, half-grinning.

"And who cares what they think! They're losers, remember!" Ari laughed, "We agreed right? Last night? Face them head on? Ringing any bells? You slip out the back today, you'll never beat them."

Mitchie nodded, trying and succeeding to conjure up last night's strength. Ari's smirk grew as she saw the same abandoned smile adorn Mitchie's features, just like it had a thousand times before. Caitlyn grinned in answer, silently acknowledging that it was time. She and Ari both pushed on of the double doors open wide, glancing at the middle girl, before the three moved together into the room. Out of the frying pan, into the fire never had more meaning.


End file.
